CH 40

“Thanks to the help of Celie, the treatment of the injured is almost complete by now. As for the people whose houses were damaged, we have opened up some of the temples and castles for them to sleep in, albeit temporarily.”

–It was the night of the attack on the royal capital by the “Four Demons” Lionetta.

In the audience room of the royal palace of Pistel, king Castral and other important people of the country, as well as the people who were involved in this incident – later called the “Pistel Incident” in historical records, were gathered and reported to each other on their actions and progress.

“Hmm… well done. The commotion is over now.”

After listening to the report of the civil servant, Castral nodded vigorously.

“So how is the search for my sons going? Did you find any clues?”

He asked as if it was the main topic of the gathering.

The civil servant swept his gaze and shook his head slowly, apologetically.

“No… the Magic knights have been searching with all their might, but they haven’t found a trace. Are they in a distant place where they can’t be traced by sensory magic or…”

“You mean to say they are dead?”

Castral digested the words which were hard for the civil servant to say with a rugged expression.

That’s right…

In addition to the successful activities of the first prince Brad, the quick response of Castral and the people at the heart of the kingdom somehow ended the commotion.

On the other hand, Brad the leading figure in bringing the incident to a close and his brother Albert, had gone missing during the commotion.

“I’m sorry, but this is going to be tough.”

“It’s getting late. It’s hard to find them anymore. For Brad who disappeared with a Demon General, it won’t make sense to say he’s safe.”

“Even though he had just started to change”

The nobles exchanged such words in a whisper.

Brad-sama……)

Marie listening to it all in the corner among the audience bit her lips and nodded.

Brad was fighting against Lionetta in the arena. Suddenly, their battle was interrupted by him. But he disappeared from the royal capital in an instant due to Lionetta’s transfer magic

It’s not clear if Brad wanted to do this or if he was manipulated by Lionetta’s illusionary magic, but anyway, he’s gone missing.

(Where the heck is he?)

Marie also sent the duke’s private army to search for him, but they were unable to find any clues.

The duke, who is my father, forced me to sit in on this meeting, but it seems that the knights were not successful either.

(Why did this happen when everyone was beginning to recognize His Highness? ……)

It was time to move on.  I wonder why Brad who seemed like he was looking backward for so long, began to move forward.

(Are you saying that this was the disaster that we were warned about?)

The disaster that was said to be coming.

If that’s what this was about, if that’s what caused Brad to lose his life, then it’s completely my fault. If I hadn’t fallen for Brad the other day and broken off the engagement, it might have been avoided.

(Please be safe. ……)

She could only pray for his safety and it made her uneasy.

If something were to happen to Brad, she felt her heart would burst.

However, just as a heavy air began to flow in the audience room, a carefree voice sounded as if it hadn’t read the atmosphere at all.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine.”✧

The owner of the voice was “Seven Heroes” Glace.

Due to the exclusion of Celie and Merlin watching the prisoners of war, Glace was the only one attending the meeting.

Castral furrowed his brow.

“Glace, what do you mean he’s okay? If you know anything, I’d love to hear about it…”

“No, I don’t know anything.”✧

Glace only shrugged with his usual frivolous smile. The people in the room had started to have faint expectations.

The people in the audience room, including Marie, sighed loudly at the same time.

I can usually listen to this hero’s jokes with a warm eye, but in a serious situation like this, I really wish he would stop. I wondered if he had any proof that Brad was safe.

“I still can’t get a trace of Brad and Albert. I think we should be prepared for any eventuality.”

Castral’s words made the atmosphere even heavier.

But then….

“……!

Suddenly, In the middle of the audience room.

A huge amount of magic power converges there.

When they realized it, something like a life-sized black hole appears in the space.

It was a transfer gate warp hole.

It’s a doorway to another dimension that is used for summoning and transfer magic, and Marie had seen it on more than a few occasions.

“It could be an assassin, be on the lookout!

Castral immediately called out.

Those gathered in the meeting went into high alert immediately and the knights guarding them held up their weapons and surrounded the transfer gate.

If it appeared through the transition gate, it was most likely a powerful being, whether human or demon. The audience hall was filled with a breathtaking sense of tension, as it had just been attacked by Lionetta.

But after a few moments…

“…?”

What came out of the room was a beautiful man with shining silver thread-like hair and brown skin.

There was no doubt about it.

It was the first prince of this country, Brad von Pistel, the fiancée of Marie who had disappeared with Lionetta.

When Brad was fully visible and the transfer gate having done its job, disappeared, the rumble spread like a wave around the audience.

“Oh my ……, you’re alive!

“It’s unbelievable …… that you disappeared along with that demon general and you’re still alive!”

“It’s a miracle …… that you’ve returned at all!”

Brad’s recent behavior and contributions to charity and education were being recognized, and now that he had saved the capital from the brink of disaster, he was being recognized by even more people.

Normally, Marie would have been quietly happy that her fiancé had been accepted in this way, but today she didn’t do so.

It was because when she found out that Brad was safe, her emotions exploded and she found herself jumping on him.

“Marie, I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“that’s my line.”

It’s just like Brad to be able to say he cares about you first and foremost, she thought as she put her arms around his back.

“I…”

No more words were needed.

The two hugged each other tightly.

It was as if the hero and the princess, who had been separated by a curse for so long, had crossed thousands of years to meet again.

********

“Brad, you’re back. Welcome” Castral spoke after a while.

(…… Oh, that’s right. I was directly transferred into the meeting room?)

He noticed that people’s attention was focused on him and Marie hugging each other.

Marie had jumped on me out of nowhere, and I had become so attached to her that she was the only one I could see. She was so cute that she reminded me of my dog who greeted me with a wagging tail when I came home. No, it might be rude to compare her to a dog, but….

“Father, I’m back.”

I let Marie go and knelt down in front of Castral.

“Hmm. I know you’re tired, but can you explain what happened? It’s a good time since everyone’s here. I’d like to share some information with you.”

Brad nodded and gave a brief explanation of how he had disappeared, with some bluffing to hide his previous life.

During the battle above the arena, he had a chance to talk to Lionetta. It became clear that she had been forced to cooperate with the Demon King’s army through Beelzebub’s schemes and that he had lifted her sister’s curse that had caused her to cooperate with the Demon King’s army.

“So, there is no longer any reason for Lionetta to cooperate with the Demon King’s army. She will no longer be an enemy of our country.”

As Brad explained, Castral groaned in a mixture of astonishment and admiration. “How …… could that be?”

“No way… you persuaded the demon general?”

“It was also stunning that he read the situation and took measures in advance, but I can’t believe that even the threat of the demon general was neutralized at the end.”

“What is certain is that His Highness saved this country. If you weren’t here, this country would have been dealt a huge blow.”

The nobles around him were equally impressed and murmured something to that effect.

Brad was very grateful for the positive feedback.

“I think that everyone will naturally want to sanction Lionetta. However, she already has not the slightest hostility towards us and from now on, she wants to hide away from the Demon King’s army. Personally, I think it would be better to leave her alone.”

Castral frowned, grunting for a moment as though he was thinking.

“I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know that there have been no deaths so far. Since you said that Lionetta had a situation and no one else managed this uproar as brilliantly as you did. It was a heroic job. All right, I won’t inquire about Lionetta’s whereabouts for now.”

“Your Majesty, are you sure about this?”

One of the civil servants asked with a grim face.

“Trying to defeat her will bring about so many damages. It’s not like we’re going to bother with a hibernating dragon.”

But when Castral shrugged his shoulders with a pragmatic reason, the civil servant who raised his voice did not argue any further

With that, Lionetta’s rampage which involved running over the kingdom ended without sanction. They couldn’t see any merit in forcibly defeating Lionetta now, even at the cost of sacrifices. I think they decided it was best to leave her alone.

“Thank you.” Brad said, feeling relieved.

(…… looks like it went through without a hitch.)

But just when I thought this was the end of the matter, Castral quickly continued, “More importantly, ……”.

“Do you know anything about the whereabouts of Albert? You weren’t the only one who was missing.”

The expression on his face was grim as he asked

“Albert’s whereabouts?”

Brad furrowed his brow.

He had no idea what he was talking about, but there was something disturbing about it.

“I’ve not seen him since the opening ceremony of the Sword Dance Festival, what’s wrong? Is there something wrong with Albert?”

(What does this mean?)

It was unexpected.

He thought everything was settled when he made peace with Lionetta. It felt as though he was doused with cold water.

“Have you tried …… to communicate with sensing magic and magic stones?”

“Of course. There was no trace of his magic in the area, nor was there any response from him. It’s hard to imagine that he would disappear without saying a word to the people around him, so I assumed that someone had captured him, but if it wasn’t Lionetta, then who was it ……?”

Castral furrowed his brows.

“Well I understand the situation for now. You may rest and leave finding Albert to the knights.” (Castral)

“No… Albert may be in trouble at this moment. Even though everyone is working hard to find him, I cannot just rest. I think I’ll join the search from now.”

If he was captured by someone today, time could be of the essence. I have to go and search for him right away.

But Castral shook his head.

“There’s no point in rushing. Your body and mind will not work properly if you’re exhausted. The sooner you get some rest and recover, the sooner we can find Albert. So rest for today.”

“But ……”

Brad wanted to Argue further, but at that moment.

(…what?)

His body suddenly becomes irresponsive, and he started to lose consciousness.

He tried to stay awake, but he couldn’t help himself anymore.

“Brad-sama! Brad-sama!”

Immediately after Marie’s panicked voice reached his ears, which he had never heard before, Brad’s consciousness disappeared into the darkness.